DIY Owl Loot Bags

For Miley's OWLentine party, I made these super cute loot bags to fit the theme. Read on for the easy tutorial.

A Happy OWLentine's Birthday

It's getting harder and harder for us to pick a birthday theme for my daughter as she grows older. First it was Wonder Pets. Then she wanted a colorful art party. Then My Little Pony. Then Sleeping Beauty. Then she wanted mermaids! I was getting so confused until finally, we both decided on an owl theme (we have a love affair with owls ever since she was a baby). Then she said she wanted it to be an OWLentine party (she coined that term herself ha!) since her birthday was close to Valentine's Day.

DIY: Repainting my kids' room

I'm probably the most adventurous when it comes to doing painting projects in my kids' room since it's not that big. I know I can pretty much do it myself without spending a whole lot for materials. One of my very first DIY projects was doing this owl tree mural, which is probably one of my all-time favorites.

After, I decided to paint half the wall purple, just to give it an accent color.

Then, I went all out and painted stripes on the ceiling since I figured, why not? ;p

I guess I'd forgotten how much work it actually took to do these projects since after a while, I was itching to make some changes again. Plus the kids were getting older, which meant they could already give me input on what they wanted. Both my son and daughter stay in this room so I couldn't really choose between a "Princess Underwater" or "Power Rangers" theme. ;p

Basically, I knew I just wanted to change the color of the walls first. Of course, it had to be gender neutral and something that would match the striped grey and white ceiling (no way was I repainting that anytime soon since it took me forever to do that!). Honestly, it was so hard to choose especially when I was looking at paint swatches since there were so many nice colors!

In the end, I decided to go with an light blue color called PEACE RIVER in a satin finish. I got a gallon of paint which cost about P1k. This was honestly more than I was expecting to pay for the paint, but it was good quality which meant good coverage. So I figured it was fine since I was going to be looking at those walls for quite some time right? :)

Before I got started though, I first wiped the walls using a damp cloth. This is important since a lot of dirt and residue can accumulate on your walls over the years. Mine was super dusty, I didn't even realize it! I also sanded over any uneven parts from my previous paint job. You definitely want a smooth and clean surface when you start.

it was definitely hard to take the owl mural down, but it's time for a change ;)

Since I was repainting over the owl mural and also the purple half of the wall with a lighter color, I had to get a primer so I could even out the color first. Others might just go ahead and paint over everything at once, but you might need more coats to make sure the old paint color won't show through. Personally, I think a primer saves you time and energy and just ensures a nicer end result.

I loved putting on the primer since I didn't need to be neat about it. It doesn't have to be applied perfectly since you'll be covering it up with your new paint color anyway.

After everything was covered, it was finally time to really paint. I also love how my little assistant was back! She also helped me paint the purple half of the wall before. I had to kick her out after a while though, since honestly, we would never finish with her around! lol ;p

Anyway, if you think it was easy, it was NOT. I definitely need blog posts like these to remind me of the blood, sweat, and tears it took to finish painting the damn room! I blame HGTV for making it look like a breeze haha! And honestly, who here hasn't looked around a small space and confidently thought, "I could paint this in a few hours max!"

Well, it took me 3 days and I almost gave up and hired someone to finish it for me. I think maybe it was because of the cheap paint rollers I used, or maybe I just bit off more that I could chew. But I got the job done in the end and it's beautiful if I do say so myself!

I love how the color turned out! Even though it's blue, the light shade is still feminine enough for a girl. The primer definitely worked since it covered all the old paint perfectly. And the color made the room brighter and fresher, don't you think? My kids are happy and so am I!

My whole body was aching for days after I did this - from all the bending over, reaching up, and going up and down the ladder. I now have a newfound respect for house painters! I told hubby I won't bargain anymore when a painter charges for labor since I now know how hard it is to do their job haha! ;p

I honestly want to paint over a lot more walls in our house (like the accent wall in our living room and also our master bedroom). But with this weather, it will definitely take a while before I do manual labor again hehe! But stay tuned since I have a lot more home improvements coming up soon. :)

Bungalow 300

I have always loved Bungalow 300's colorful pillows which I first saw in Dimensione and are also available via Taste Central. I was obsessed with the chevron pattern then and I think theirs was the first one I saw with that print. I came thisclose to buying some, however my kuripot side won over since each pillowcase is about P700-P800. I mean that's a lot considering there are super cute pillowcases over at my happy place Landmark for less than P100 each! 

Anyway, it just so happened that I found out they were having a 3-day sale last weekend through Instagram (@bungalow300). I figured I'd check it out since it said discounts were from 10% to 50% off. 

heaven!!!

I immediately zeroed in on the pillows and my heart started pounding when I was told they were 50% off! OMG! Each pillowcase would be about P300-P400, still a lot more expensive than my Landmark finds. But it was a good deal nonetheless, considering I almost bought these at full price before (see, patience is a virtue haha!).

It was so hard to choose! I didn't want to go overboard and buy every color and pattern just because it was on sale (I've done that way too many times!). I wanted to get designs that would work with what I already had at home. I must have looked so confused since one of the owners came up to me and asked if I needed help haha! I told her it was ok, I really take my time when deciding. ;p 

They also sell Domesticity products like these cutlery and glass trays you see on the top shelf below. I've also been eyeing these over at Taste Central, but they were only 10% off though...

I had to restrain myself from buying these placemat sets since I already have so much (still unused) at home. But they would make such pretty gifts right?

Here's some more eye-candy around the store. I love the vintage modern furniture, quirky and bold accessories and so much more!

I wanted that super cute owl on the lower right (30% off) but I already have so much owl figurines...

they also have Luxe City Guides

each corner of the store is like from a page of a`magazine

cork coasters at 50% off!

display outside the store right before you enter

gorgeous bone china figurines

more bone china stuff on the 2nd floor

According to them, this is their very first sale ever! So I'm really happy I was able to catch it. I'll show you in the coming post what I ended up buying. ;p So if you're in the south and you like what you see, definitely try to drop by this store. I also saw that they hold crafting workshops here so hopefully I can join the next one. :)

Buencamino is along Alabang Zapote road right across Honda Cars. You will see Metro Bank- Sycamore building on the corner of Buencamino. When you turn in to the street look for the white row house 50 meters to your left with a big No.7

BUNGALOW 300

No. 7 Buencamino St. Alabang, Muntinlupa

519-3143

www.facebook.com/bungalow300

My Uniwide shopping loot

Here's what I got during my latest trip to Uniwide:

I am slightly obsessed with owls so I just had to add these to my collection.

P49 each

More ceramic trinkets which I couldn't resist. You can put a candle inside the blue owl so it lights up from the inside. The horse I just found really cute. And remember this post about how I wanted to update my yellow ceramic stool which I also got from Uniwide? This miniature stool with its Chinoiserie-style pattern looks just like the DIY version!

blue owl - P39, horse - P12, mini stool - P49

I was so happy when I saw these brass letters since I had bought the exact same ones before but Sabe broke it! And as luck would have it, they only had 5 letters available which included V and H (hubby & my initials)

P29 per letter

I also couldn't resist getting this Stormtrooper piggybank purely for the design. I just thought it looked super quirky and cute.

P29

More assorted ceramic balls.

price ranges from P19 upwards depending on size

I also love buying plates for the kids in Uniwide. These melamine ones come in different designs. Some are sold per piece while others you can get per kilo. You really have to sort through the stacks and check for imperfections and damages. Also, some designs are limited to just 1 piece.

P15 each

I had to get these action figures for my son since he's currently obsessed with superheroes. He's only 2 years old so he's not one to complain even if the only Ironman they had was color green haha! And besides, I don't have to feel bad if he breaks or loses them since they're so cheap anyways. We can invest on the expensive toys later on when he gets older. :)

Ironman - P99, Batman - P59, Superman - P59

Batman Shoot Playset - P159, Batman mask & toy - P99

This make-up set is for my kikay Miley :)

P129

And lastly, these foam toy swords will be making an appearance for Halloween very soon... ;p

about P20 for both

All in all, my total bill was just over P1000! Next time, I'll also share my favorite buys from the Uniwide Coastal Mall branch, since like I said, it's bigger and has more items than the Sucat branch. :)

Early Christmas presents

My in-laws finally came home from their US vacation a few weeks ago. And while we, especially the kids, missed them so much, this also meant one thing... PASALUBONG for everyone! ;p

I felt like a giddy kid waking up on Christmas morning all set to open Christmas presents. But this time, I was eagerly awaiting the opening of the balikbayan boxes haha! Although I already knew the stuff I was going to get since I had already searched for these online and even ordered some of it myself. ;p

First up were these fabric cube bins from Target. They come in many colors but I just got the beige ones to blend in with our white shelf (which I got from S&R). They're just perfect for holding stray toys and books in the kids' room.

from Target

now it looks more organized!

stuffed toys in one of the drawers

plus a bonus OWL drawer too, which the kids love wearing on their head!

My daughter Miley is super addicted to Bubble Guppies so I really searched online if they had any toys available in the States. I found these at Amazon.com and I'm so happy they were able to buy all 3 characters! My mother-in-law emailed a picture of the toys when they got it and Miley was so excited already. I even asked her the day before her Mama and Lolo came home: "Miley, are you excited? Mama will be here tomorrow!" And you know what she said: "Then I'll have my Bubble Guppies!" (talagang un ang priority? haha!)

from Amazon.com

And finally, what I was most excited about! If you read my post about my favorite online shop, you know how crazy I am over Urban Outfitters' home stuff! I regularly browse their Apartment Section, especially the SALE items, and these were the things I ended up getting:

from Urban Outfitters

from Urban Outfitters

I wanted to get more bedding stuff but I decided to wait and check the quality first. But it's REALLY GOOD! I totally love the prints and the colors are so vibrant in real life. I am definitely buying more in the future when I have relatives going to the States again so they can bring it home for me.

I also bought this cardboard deer head for Sabe's room. Can't wait to assemble and put it up!

from Urban Outfitters

We also had other pasalubongs like clothes, shoes, and of course sooooo much stuff for the kids! It definitely felt like Christmas in our house! I was telling hubby maybe the kids shouldn't get all the toys at once since they'll be so overwhelmed. But of course, their grandparents were so excited to pamper the little ones after being away for so long. As for me, I'm super happy with my new goodies. Oh, and the best part? That "amoy PX" smell! I could spend all day sniffing our new stuff, feeling ko galing na din akong States hahaha! ;p